The recognition feels astonishing: Anuradha Roy

Q. What was going through your mind as you sat down to write Sleeping on Jupiter? Was there a trigger point?A. It started as a long short story and I found myself thinking about two of the subsidiary characters one of these was the girl who became the main character eventually. It’s hard to analyse how a narrative takes the route it does I can’t really pinpoint any particular trigger.

Pic courtesy/Francesca Mantovani/Opale

Q. What does this acknowledgement (the Booker Prize Longlist) mean for you?A. The Booker longlists and shortlists are hugely important in the publishing and literary world: it means recognition at an international level, which feels astonishing and unreal. I hope it eventually means more sales!

Anuradha Roy wrote Sleeping on Jupiter (Hachette) which is is one of the 13 titles to have been included in the Booker Prize longlist that was announced earlier this week

Q. Do you believe that Indian fiction has managed to create an imprint across world cultures?A. No, I think it’s a small number of people who read Indian fiction abroad. On the other hand, shopkeepers from Bali to Athens ask visiting Indians if they know Shah Rukh Khan.